"Encouraging" results from Aimspro optic neuritis trial
21 Mar 2005
Researchers in Oxford say they are encouraged by the findings of a trial of the goat serum treatment Aimspro in optic neuritis, one of the most common symptoms of MS. The patients taking part had entered a chronic phase of visual loss.
In an announcement from Daval International, Professor Paul Matthews, who led the trial at the John Radcliffe Hospital, said, "The results in terms of Aimspro's effect on visual impairment are encouraging. We studied vision because it can guide expectations for other functional impairments caused by multiple sclerosis. As far as we know, the factors that are responsible for impairment of vision in multiple sclerosis associated with optic neuritis are the same as those that impair other systems in the brain.
"We found that in a tertiary outcome measure there was a significant treatment effect on visual fields and the drug was well tolerated. It is encouraging that a possible effect of Aimspro occurred relatively rapidly. If this is a true result, it would be consistent with the fact that Aimspro has an immunological mechanism. This needs to be investigated further."
Mike O'Donovan, chief executive of the MS Society, commented, "This research adds weight to the promising anecdotal evidence which has been reported for this treatment. We are keen to see the investigation taken forward."
"We found that in a tertiary outcome measure there was a significant treatment effect on visual fields and the drug was well tolerated. It is encouraging that a possible effect of Aimspro occurred relatively rapidly. If this is a true result, it would be consistent with the fact that Aimspro has an immunological mechanism. This needs to be investigated further."
Mike O'Donovan, chief executive of the MS Society, commented, "This research adds weight to the promising anecdotal evidence which has been reported for this treatment. We are keen to see the investigation taken forward."
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